


Tucked away

by Tiofrean



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Hand Jobs, M/M, Post-Terminus (Walking Dead), Pre-Alexandria Safe-Zone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:23:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tiofrean/pseuds/Tiofrean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick has trouble sleeping and Daryl knows exactly what his man needs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tucked away

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArcticLucie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArcticLucie/gifts).



> For Lucie, who needed some fluff today <3 I hope that cheers you up, darling! 
> 
> Unbetaed (MermaidSheenaz is on a secret owl mission, all fics unbeated until she gets back, so you'll have to deal with me ;) )

Daryl could tell Rick was lost in his own head again. Or getting there. One way or another, it pained Daryl to see just how on edge his man had been for the past week, his brilliant blue eyes fixed on nothing and his brain zoomed out of reality. And yeah, sure, Daryl understood perfectly what was running through Rick’s head, it was simple, after all. Food, shelter, medicine, weapons… It wasn’t anything new, yet, it wasn’t anything that they needed desperately right now.

A few hours earlier they had managed to find a big abandoned mansion. It looked almost ridiculous, really, with the huge garden that was now more of a jungle. If it hadn’t been for the alarming shade of red of the gates to the premises, they would have missed it altogether, tucked away in the overgrown branches and leaves. But now they were inside, fed because there was a fuckload of rabbits hopping all over that jungle of a garden, safe thanks to the high walls surrounding the house. The night had already fallen a few hours ago and everyone was tucked away to sleep, save for Abraham and Rosita who took the watch.

Well… them and Rick, who was still turning from side to side when Daryl entered the bedroom after his shift. Daryl didn’t need to ask if he couldn’t sleep, that was pretty obvious. He knew the reason, too - Rick was always over-thinking their current setting. It was usually a good trait for a leader, but it also meant that he didn’t sleep well on most of the nights. And this night was one of those when he really could just forget about all of it for a moment.

The archer took off his tattered pants and boots on his way to the bed, throwing them near the nightstand in case he had to quickly put them back on later. It was unlikely, the place was like a damn fortress, but he wouldn’t risk being butt-naked if they had to make a run for their lives. He took his vest off, too, along with his shirt, before he slipped into the bed and turned to face Rick.

Daryl frowned when he looked him over. Rick’s eyes were half-wild, gazing at him with that suppressed fear he didn’t want anyone to see. With Daryl it was different, with Daryl, Rick could let himself be vulnerable and open, knowing he was safe and cared for, even if neither of them would say it out loud. They didn’t need to, words were never a thing they needed. And so, Daryl pressed closer to him, one strong arm traveling to Rick’s waist, fingers drawing small patterns into the soft skin. Rick’s body was cold even despite the thick covers thrown over them, a testament to how physical his fears had become.

Daryl wouldn’t have it. He shifted more into Rick’s space, the need to warm him up with his own body heat growing with every second. Rick looked at him, eyes for once focused and laser sharp, before they closed slowly and he let his head fall to Daryl’s shoulder, breathing in and out slowly, deliberately. Daryl waited, patient as always, letting Rick pull himself out of his mind and into the present. He knew it happened when Rick’s hand rose hesitantly and reached to him, landing softly on Daryl’s bicep and squeezing, holding on as if the hunter was the only thing connecting him with reality. And then, Rick’s gaze was back at Daryl, looking at him with a cocktail of emotion mixing and stirring behind those beautiful baby-blues.

 _Do something_...

The request, _the plea_ , was as clear as if it had been spoken aloud. They didn’t need words, not when they fought hand in hand, not when they survived out there… certainly not _now_ , when they were alone in the bedroom upstairs, their family safe and quiet downstairs, asleep in the dead of the night.

Daryl leaned in, one hand pressed to Rick’s cheek, the thick stubble tickling his fingertips as he kissed Rick softly. The leader dove into it, desperate lips and inquisitive tongue, the need to forget the horrors of their lives pouring off of him in waves. Daryl caught him, like he always did, like he always _would_. He let Rick lick every last bit of his mouth, let him feast as much as he wanted, while Daryl ran gentle hands down his bare back and up his abdomen and chest. Fingers catching in the hair he found there, nails grazing through it delicately, feeling Rick shiver and pant into his mouth. That was when Daryl started to take a bit more control. Not all of it, he didn’t want Rick to get overwhelmed, to back off. Just a little nibble now and again, a small suck on the curious tongue plundering his mouth, a soft caress of Daryl’s hand splayed on Rick’s side.

Daryl knew Rick’s body just like he knew his own, they had been together since the prison and it was more than enough time for the attentive hunter to learn exactly what made Rick relax and forget. He used that knowledge now, scratching his fingernails over Rick’s ribs, not enough to hurt, but enough to make him feel it. He let his hand skim down, over Rick’s belly and lower to his hip, the other arm sneaking between Rick’s waist and the mattress underneath, keeping his man close. Daryl pressed his thumb into the hollow of Rick’s hipbone, rubbing it slowly with enough pressure to tear a quiet groan out of Rick’s throat.

Rick broke their kiss, the few breaths panted into Daryl’s mouth not bringing enough air to his system. Daryl used the moment to mouth at his neck, wetting the skin with broad swipes of his tongue until he could feel Rick’s whole body twitch. He scraped his teeth along a tendon on the side of Rick’s neck, slipping his hand past the waistband of his boxers at the same time, listening to the shattered moan it earned him. It was quiet and barely there, stuttered out when Daryl wrapped his fingers around Rick’s length. It only took a few strokes to bring Rick to full hardness, strokes that were received with enthusiastic hands grabbing at Daryl, settling on his neck and waist, keeping him close as if Rick was afraid he would disappear.

The small, displeased sound that escaped Rick when Daryl’s hand left him for a moment was almost enough to make Daryl try crawl all over Rick to press him into the mattress and fuck him senseless. But he knew that wasn’t on the table for tonight, so he licked his palm, wetting it thoroughly, before he returned it back inside Rick’s boxers. The rhythm he settled on was slow, but his fingers were tight and his fist was wet, and Rick’s hips started to cant into it not long after. Daryl’s own cock swelled more with each of the sweet little sounds Rick made, feeling himself grow a bit dizzy when Rick’s hand landed on his underwear, rubbing him through it gently. But Rick’s moves were uncoordinated and sloppy, his concentration shot to hell with Daryl’s sure grip, and the soft caress he gave in return was just the right thing to get the edge off.

Daryl leaned in to capture Rick’s lips again, the kiss becoming very filthy very quickly, tongues stroking against one another in an uncoordinated imitation of what Daryl was doing with his hand. On a whim, Daryl started to twist his hand on each upstroke, wiping his thumb over the leaking slit at the very head of Rick’s cock. The leader didn’t last long after that, Daryl knowing exactly how to play his body in just the right way.

He came with a quiet whine, swallowed up by Daryl’s mouth, the hand on his cock working him through his orgasm as he shook and trembled against Daryl’s body, hands flexing reflexively on Daryl’s sides. He was vaguely aware that he could be leaving finger-shaped bruises on Daryl’s skin, but the knowledge that Daryl didn’t care let him grip all he wanted. _All he needed_.

The reality came back to Rick slowly and in the form of Daryl’s soft little groans, choked out into his skin. Rick turned his head and nosed his way under Daryl’s chin, licking a wide stripe over his throat, kissing Daryl’s pulse point when he felt just how rapidly the blood was pounding under the surface of his skin. Rick kissed up Daryl’s neck, prompting him to turn his head just a bit, getting the access to his ear. Once Rick’s lips landed on that patch of skin just behind Daryl’s ear, sensitive to even the smallest of touches, Daryl was done for. All of his muscles flexed and locked up as he panted out his release, lips opened on a silent cry.

Breathing heavily, sweat-soaked skin shivering in the cold air of the night, Daryl slowly came down from the high. His body trying to get the grip on reality back didn’t stop him from opening his eyes and checking up on Rick, though. As soon as he was sure Rick’s eyes were clear and focused, even if half-hooded in that post-orgasmic bliss that had fallen over the both of them, Daryl started to take off his ruined boxers. He used them to clean himself up before he did the same to Rick, prompting him to wriggle out of his own underwear, throwing both items on the pile of his clothes once he was done.

And then his arms were back around Rick, tugging him closer and tucking him against Daryl’s broad chest. Rick breathed out, the length of the exhale showing just how much that moment of letting go helped. His hands still came up to Daryl’s sides, sneaking around him and holding on tightly.  
“I’ve gotcha” Daryl whispered, planting a soft kiss on the top of Rick’s head, feeling the shivers die down. Rick’s body was warm once again, his heart was slowly getting on with its usual speed again, and Rick sighed contentedly against Daryl’s chest.

“The sky’s still hanging, ya know?” Daryl’s voice was quiet and soothing in its usual roughness and Rick squeezed his arms around Daryl’s middle briefly to let the hunter know he was still listening. “It’s not gonna fall down on us, I won’t let it” he gruffed in a quiet murmur, running one hand down the length of Rick’s back. It settled on the swell of Rick’s backside, so much smaller than it had been in the prison, and Daryl vowed to go hunting the first thing in the morning. For now he settled on listening to Rick’s even breathing and the feel of his heartbeat thudding in his chest.

When Rick finally fell asleep, Daryl tried to lean back a little to give him some space to breathe and rest properly. But, Rick’s arms tightened around him the second he felt Daryl move away. There was a small distressed sound made somewhere at the back of his throat, and Daryl gave up, pressing into him once again, making a soft shushing sound when he felt that Rick started to stir again. He didn’t wake up, but his hands remained firmly around Daryl until the morning came.

When they both woke up finally, they found themselves so entangled in each other that there was no telling which limb belonged to whom. Daryl didn’t mind one bit, and, judging by the pleased sigh that left Rick as soon as he stretched a bit, he didn’t mind either. Quite the opposite, in fact, for Rick somehow managed to tangle them both even more, burying his face in Daryl’s side, kissing the skin his lips touched out of instinct.  
“Thank you” it was whispered and barely there, but Daryl heard it nonetheless. He squeezed one of Rick’s arms that was currently tucked under his shoulder in reply.

 _Gotcha. Always_.

Rick kissed his side again, nuzzling into Daryl’s ribs, letting himself enjoy the late morning. They could both hear their family waking up downstairs, the quiet voices talking about the place they were in and about their next run. Daryl knew they would have to get up sometime today, but he also knew that nobody would come to bother them if it wouldn’t be absolutely necessary. Between Abraham and Glenn, their whole family was safe and cared for, and Daryl figured a bit of a holiday wouldn’t hurt. They rarely had the occasion to just switch off and rest for a few hours when they were on the road. Sighing, Daryl let his eyes close and the sleep to claim him for a bit longer, Rick’s soft, warm breaths enough to keep him in bed for an hour or two more.


End file.
